Mushroom Lord in the Underground City-Chapter 425 - 416: The First Northern Alliance Meeting
Fungus Castle, South Gate.
The city walls are now mostly closed, although they haven’t been equipped with various magic arrays, they are already starting to take effect.
"Name, level, tribe affiliation, purpose of entering the city."
At the city gate, surrounded by a group of city guards led by Puki, a half-demon was recording the identities of those entering the city one by one.
"Um... Bugalo, an upper-level warrior of the Broken Blade tribe, here to... attend the North Alliance meeting."
"Rama..."
The half-demon gatekeeper, who was initially quite laid-back, suddenly brightened upon hearing the words "upper-level warrior!"
He first looked the two demons up and down, and upon confirming that they indeed didn’t have mycelium on them, handed the work over to a subordinate, and enthusiastically approached.
"You two... it’s your first time at Fungus Castle, right?" Due to the name being difficult to remember and no one daring to voice objections, everyone tacitly started using Fungus Castle to refer to this city in the Far North.
Bugalo and Rama glanced at the smiling half-demon approaching them, slightly confused, but being newcomers, they didn’t dare to act recklessly in the high-flying Fungus Castle and could only follow up: "Yes, is there anything we should be aware of?"
"You two haven’t connected to the Fungal Network yet, have you? Want to give it a try? Super life force, super recovery, survive chest injuries, regenerate lost limbs, plus cross-language telepathic communication and control of Puki, among other benefits! And all of this can be achieved with symbiotic mycelium! How about it, would you like to give it a try?"
After finishing his introduction in one breath, the half-demon looked at the two upper-level warriors with anticipation.
Bugalo and Rama exchanged a glance, both seeing the doubt in each other’s eyes.
Everyone in this area knows what symbiotic mycelium is; the strength of Fungus Castle is evident thanks to it.
But the suspicious demeanor of this half-demon gatekeeper seemed odd to them.
"Sorry, we’re not..."
Just as Bugalo was about to refuse, noticing his broken leg, the half-demon stepped forward: "Upper-level warrior joining now will enjoy a reward of two thousand contribution points and a loan of three thousand contribution points with no interest for half a year. Both of you joining together can just gather enough contribution points needed for the Limb Regeneration Potion!"
Limb Regeneration Potion!
Bugalo was quite tempted by this.
But in the end, he politely declined the half-demon’s invitation, intending to inquire further.
Watching the two demons depart, the half-demon made a last-ditch effort: "If you change your mind, be sure to come find me!"
Only when the two demons completely disappeared into the crowd did he slump back into his seat: "Sigh, how many times have I failed already, earning the 500 contribution points reward isn’t so easy... Really, symbiosis is so good, what’s everyone hesitating about..." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
Clearly, the half-demon hadn’t realized that the reason was his own suspicious behavior.
Entering the city, Bugalo and Rama could hardly believe their eyes; they’d actually seen "vitality" in the Northern Territory.
The roads in Fungus Castle were quite wide, yet didn’t seem deserted at all.
Residents of Fungus Castle with many Pukis were hustling back and forth on the crisscrossing streets, everyone seemed busy with their own affairs, a scene not typically seen in the tribes.
It truly felt like a legitimate city, though the bustle was largely filled by the many Pukis...
Finally, they entered a tall tower in the city’s center, where the leaders of the five tribes and surviving upper-level warriors mostly gathered, to attend the so-called "First North Alliance Meeting."
As for the issue of defenselessness within their tribes, they didn’t have to worry; Fungus Castle had considerately taken over their tribal defense work, even providing food supplies to them for free during their personnel loss crisis.
And with Xing Huo, accompanied by Marshal Puki and Norris holding the Yellow-covered Book, entering, the meeting officially commenced.
Originally Louisa was supposed to come too, but she wasn’t interested in such trifles, so she deferred them.
Norris opened the Yellow-covered Book and began reciting the script, detailing the past challenges faced by various tribes in the Northern Territory—scarcity of food, being seen as trash during peace and expendables during wartime by the Empire.
Not to mention, during the Blood Prince incident, many Chis were killed, and two tribes were wiped out just to carry more blood, treating tribe members as demons!
Finally, Norris expressed that the tribes of the Northern Territory should unite and help each other to grow and prosper together.
Everything was for a better future for everyone.
An invisible spiritual wave emanated from the Yellow-covered Book, immediately prompting one of the leaders to stand and show support for the union.
Others looked at each other; the current situation wasn’t too surprising.
After all, with the forced takeover of their own tribes, and the meeting named something like "North Alliance," the heart of Fungus Castle was not quite clear to outsiders, yet these tribal leaders couldn’t possibly be oblivious.
The reason they hadn’t resisted much was, first, the disparity in strength was evident, and second, Fungus Castle seemed to prefer peaceful transformation. Everyone wanted to see what terms they’d offer.
Sure enough, after Norris talked about the intangible things, Xing Huo stepped down and began distributing tangible benefits to everyone.
Overall, these upper-level warriors and tribal chiefs had relatively high welfare due to voluntary integration.
Fungus Castle wouldn’t always be the only Fungus Castle; some tribes would later be transformed into new cities, and these integrationists would be prioritized for various positions.
It was also hinted that there would be many good things not seen in the Northern Territory available for them to exchange.
They understood this hint as Fungus Castle having smuggling channels within the Empire...
And all they needed to do was pledge loyalty to the "boss" and comply with the basic rules of Mushroom Garden.
These conditions were fairly acceptable, as they didn’t have much room to negotiate right now.
It’s just...
"Can you tell us exactly who the ’boss’ is? It seems none of us have met the one we’re supposed to pledge loyalty to," an upper-level warrior asked the question on everyone’s mind.
"No, you have already met." Then Xing Huo knelt on one knee and presented the Marshal Puki sitting dazedly on the platform to everyone.
Marshal Puki bounced up and shook his bright red cape.
"Ah... I see, I have no questions anymore."
Everyone nodded and sat down, preparing for the oath of alliance.
It’s not that they found a Puki as the leader normal; rather, many tribes in the Northern Territory had traditions of worshipping some kind of totem or "ancestral artifact." Despite calling their lucky mascot "boss" being a bit odd, it was understandable.
However, everyone privately speculated about who the true leader of Fungus Castle was—Hunting, Xing Huo, Norris, or the commander of the Blood Race army.
The first three were still acceptable, but almost everyone hoped it wasn’t Louisa, as if it were her, all this might just be the hand of some Duke in the Empire, making them uneasy.
Meanwhile, Louisa was helping Lin Jun comfort the finally awakened Xiao Hai.
